Ganhwa Seon,Hwadu Meditation Practice

The Method of Controlling Rising Gi

Content

Rising gi means the rising of the energy and fervor to the head. In the condition where mental resolution does not work, if one impatiently takes up the hwadu, or takes it up excessively, or forcibly takes it up, and takes it up as if pushed into it, rising gi occurs and the head hurts as if it is being split apart. If this occurs, even though one tries to be devoted to the hwadu, because of the pain and distress, one can do nothing more.

The reason for the occurrence of rising gi is because of the impatient mind that wants to be rapidly enlightened or forcibly is made to take up the hwadu without producing a genuine doubt about the hwadu. If one gives rise to a desire that one wants to do something and be rapidly awakened, the mind of rapid result is produced, and if one tries to fight the endless delusions, the mind can’t help burning with a pent up frustration. In circumstances where one is unprepared, when one wants to rapidly achieve a certain matter, the mind becomes impatient and the nerves come on edge, just like the activation of a fierce fervor.

If the mind becomes impatient the mind boils over and quakes. Therefore the fervor does not go down, but goes up to the head, and the illness of rising gi occurs. That is the cold energy goes upwards and the hot energy descends. When that (circulation of) water rides up and fire descends does not work, that becomes the original source of the illness of rising gi. Because the illness of rising gi cannot be cured by modern medicine, for monk meditators it is a fatal illness. If the illness is severe, it can reach an acute condition where one is even made to vomit.

If, having investigated the hwadu and rising gi occurs and the body throbs, one must go outside and expose oneself to the breezes, rest the mind and calm oneself and gently enter into the hwadu. Even so, if rising gi occurs and the head hurts, it is a help to “water riding up and fire descending” by lowering the rising gi through breathing exercises at dawn. If one stretches the waist erectly, the flow of the breath becomes natural and one can check the rising gi. But if one controls rising gi by technical means such as the breathing method, there is a worry that one may fall into the subsidiary practices.

If one catches the illness of rising gi, one must make a vow in order to produce a genuine doubt that wells up in the chest through a re-resolution of the mind. If one does so, the hwadu will appear again before one’s eyes. If one is mentally resolved and the hwadu is devoted to naturally, the hwadu and I become one and the blazing fervor disappears.

But in case the illness of rising gi worsens and one cannot take up the hwadu, one can cure the illness by bowing practice. If one tries to bow with the mind earnest and at the utmost, the mind will calm down, and through the bow, and due to the stimulus on the foot one therefore can obtain the result of water riding up and fire descending.

However, the most important thing is not to catch the illness of rising gi. One must start the study of the hwadu naturally and earnestly by a genuine mental resolution, and in order to be able to block the illness of rising gi in advance, it is important to investigate the hwadu by receiving the detailed guidance of a teacher or long-term practitioner.